430309 - Unaccounted airmen - 9-3-1943

[Henk Welting]

What were the places of death registration for:

A - Killed on active service:
LAC (Pilot u/t) John D. BURRELL - 1076678.

B - Not found Flight Global:
AC2 William J. GRIFFITHS - 1546629, and
AC2 Robert McSWAN - 1343751 - age 26.

C - Died on active service:
Cpl Patrick W. SAUNDERS - 1055494 (Air Crew Receiving Centre, London), and
LAC Francis H.G. TOON - 1105194.

D - Looking for GRO-listing of:
F/Sgt (Pilot) Kenneth R. ILSLEY - 1169997 - buried Capuccini (Naval) Cem., Malta (not found in Flight Global).

E - Proposed aircraft losses:
Beaufighter VI - T5158 - 9 (C)OTU - crashed on take-off Fergushill, Kirklinton, Cumberland (already as a casualty on thia a/c: F/O [Pilot] R.D. JONES - 126150).
Beaufort I - L9884 - 7 FPP - crashed in forced landing Little Fenton, Yorkshire.
Tiger Moth II - N6753 - 7 EFTS - spun into ground Heath Farm, Merry Lees, near Desford (already as a casualty on this a/c: Sgt [Pilot] D.J. GOODCHILD - 1795195).
Tiger Moth II - T7919 - 29 EFTS - flew into ground Braydon Pond, near Brinkworth, Wiltshire.
Beaufort I - DX116 - 5 (C)OTU - dived into ground Cabragh, 3½ mile E of Hillsborough, Co. Down (already as a casualty on this a/c: P/O [Pilot] S.M. SHUTE - 106242).

Master II - DK979 - RAFC - flew into ground Thorlbys Farm, Evedon, Lincolnshire.
Typhoon Ib - DN446 - 6 FPP - bellylanded Henlow.

Regards and thanks for your help.
Henk.

[malcolm_raf]

Hi Henk

LAC (Pilot u/t) John D. BURRELL - 1076678 - Sleaford, Lincolnshire.
AC2 William J. GRIFFITHS - 1546629 - not Eng/Wales
AC2 Robert McSWAN - 1343751 - age 26 - not Eng/Wales
Cpl Patrick W. SAUNDERS - 1055494 (Air Crew Receiving Centre, London), - not Eng/Wales
LAC Francis H.G. TOON - 1105194 - not Eng/Wales
F/Sgt (Pilot) Kenneth R. ILSLEY - 1435 Flt

Malcolm

[alclark]

Shute was, according to the ORB, the sole occupant of DX116.

[vrajm]

Hi Henk,
Typhoon Ib DN446 was flown by Capt. Geoffrey N. Wickner, the post-war owner of the Halifax Mk.III, NR 169, "Waltzing Matilda".

Regards
Mojmir

[Rich Allenby]

Henk, I have the pilot of Beaufort L9884 as being a E B Hall, sadly I don't know his rank.

Any advance on this I would be interested in. regards Rich

[COL BRUGGY]

Hi Rich,

First Officer Edgar Bernard Harold HALL ATA.

Col.

[Henk Welting]

Thanks all for this excellent info.
Regards,
Henk.

[Rich Allenby]

Col, many thanks, much appreciated as ever, Rich

[Theletterwriter]

Henk

AC2 William J. Griffiths : Forres, Moray, Scotland

AC2 Robert Roberts McSwan aged 26 : N.B. died 9 March 1942 : Townhead, Glasgow.

Best wishes

Douglas

[Henk Welting]

Thanks Douglas. I was looking for AC2 Robert McSWAN - 1343751, who lies buried Cambuslang (Westburn) Cemetery, Lanarkshire. He hailed from Lightburn, Cambuslang and died 9th March 19 "4 3" (not 1942) !. Townhead, Glasgow, maintained ?
Regards,
Henk.

[Theletterwriter]

Henk

I believe this is one and the same man. The Statutory Death Record for Scotland indicates Robert Roberts McSwan was an aircfratsman with the RAF, who died in 1942 aged 26 in the Glasgow Royal Infirmary (hence Townhead Glasgow). Parents were Allan and Isabella McSwan and the home adress is in Cambuslang. Cambuslang is no more than 4 or 5 miles from the centre of Glasgow. Either the Statutory Death Record or, more likely, the CWGC site is wrong. Another point is McSwan is not a common name in Scotland and I find it too much of a co-incidence for the date to be the same, the name to be the same but the year different.

Regards

Douglas

[Henk Welting]

Douglas,
I checked the CWGC Register (printed 1959) for Robert McSWAN and also in this register the year is 19"43", so a scanning error is out of the question.
Regards,
Henk.

[Theletterwriter]

Hi Henk

A scanning error is out of the question if it was 1959 but I suspect a clerical error has happened somewhere along the line. I had another look at the Statutory Death Record and Aircraftsman McSwan death has been recorded in 10 March 1942. The entries for the people before and after Aircraftsman McSwan were also in March 1942. His address was Dechmont Avenue, Cambuslang, Glasgow and there is a Lightburn Road just round the corner from Dechmont Avenue. Cambuslang is a small district in Greater Glasgow today and would probably have been even smaller in 1943. As I see it, the only disceprancy between the Statutory Death Record and the CWGC site is the year. It just depends which record you believe.

Best wishes

Douglas

[dennis_burke]

Douglas has to be correct,

30th of July 1942 Flight magazine lists an AC2 R McSwan as DOAS.

Douglas, did you save a copy of the death register, you might send it on to the CWGC, or send me it and I'll try send it on to them if you wish.

[Henk Welting]

Dennis, Douglas,
Appreciate your intention to inform CWGC about this incorrectness; please could you inform me about the answer from the CWGC.
Best regards,
Henk.

[Theletterwriter]

Henk / Dennis

I still have a copy of the death register so I will contact the CWGC tomorrow to confirm how they wish to proceed and I will send the copy to them over the weekend.

Best wishes

Douglas

[dennis_burke]

Patrick W Saunders age 29 registered Salisbury, Wiltshire.

[Theletterwriter]

Henk / Dennis

I still have a copy of the death register so I will contact the CWGC tomorrow to confirm how they wish to proceed and I will send the copy to them over the weekend.

Best wishes

Douglas

Henk

I have just received a letter from the GWGC re AC Robert McSwan. They have amended his record to show his date of death as 9 March 1942.

Douglas

[Henk Welting]

Thanks Douglas for CWGC correction to McSWAN; I amended my file.
Sticky regards (37° C in the shade !) from the continent.
Henk.

[Ross_McNeill]

Hi Henk,

From No.9 (C) OTU ORB,

9th March 1943
Weather fine all day, but two fatal accidents occurred. In the morning P/O Jones with 2 pupils crashed in Beaufighter 5818 at Kirklinton. Aircraft crashed into trees. P/O Jones died in Carslile Hospital at 1400 hours. Two passengers received only minor injuries.
In the afternoon Sgt Tully and Sgt Langlands crashed in Beaufighter E.L.359 and were both killed instantly.

Regards
Ross

[Henk Welting]

Thanks Ross. JONES was in my files. He crashed at Fergus Hill near Kirklington on Beaufighter T5158 - not 5818 (engine cut after take-off from Crosby).
Both TULLY and LANGLANDS were in my files; they crashed 3 miles E of Brampton airfield 1335 hrs. Deaths registered Borders. Info thanks to Errol Martyns 'For Your Tomorrow', vol.2 page 71).
Regards,
Henk.

[Ross_McNeill]

Hi Henk,

Sgt Y Chardon FFAL and LAC Burrell both killed in crash of Master DK979.

Unit listed as RAFC 17 SFTS in 1180.

This matches the unit given by Lafont.

Regards
Ross

[Malmesburyman]

This crash is logged in the Malmesbury ARP log for 9 March 1943. The entry reads;

Tiger Moth No T7919 aircraft wrecked at 13.00 hrs, 2 occupants seriously injured. RAF Kemble have been informed. Police guarding pending arrival of RAF. Plane belongs to Cliffe Pypiard RAF Station. Map Ref 449092 (Pondhill Charlton)

Charles

[Henk Welting]

Thanks Charles for info on Tiger Moth T7919; still looking for names of the the injured airmen.
Thanks Ross for info on CHARDON and Master DK979. Chardon was in my files however without an aircraft serial. Now also could 'give a place' to LAC BURRELL.
Regards,
Henk.

[Ross_McNeill]

Hi Henk,

The F1180 for T5158 identifies the two pupils injured when P/O Jones was killed.

P/O M J Thomas, 127152
Sgt D R Cleasby 1352245

Regards
Ross

[wwrsimon]

Further to the crash of Beaufighter T5158 at Fergus Hill, the Newcastle Journal of July 28th 1943 reported the following:

NORTH MEN AMONGST HONOURS
[awarded] the B.E.M. [is] A.C.1 Christian Gabriel Borrowdale Kapp, who was born at Gateshead.
Aircraftman Kapp, who is 24, and lived in Stocksfield until he joined up three years ago, was on leave and the first to arrive on the scene when a Beaufighter crashed near his home in March this year.
PILOT WAS TRAPPED
The aircraft was on fire and the injured pilot was trapped in the wreckage of his harness. Despite the fire and consequent risk from exploding petrol tanks, Kapp persisted in rescue work until he succeeded in extricating the pilot, whose clothing had by then caught fire.
Courage and initiative of a high order is the official description of Kapp’s actions.
Kapp is the son of Mrs. Kapp, of Fergus Hill, Kirklinton, near Carlisle. His father was a doctor in Gateshead.
Young Kapp studied at St. Bees and was afterwards under a tutor at Newcastle, intending to go in for the medical profession. When war broke out he joined the R.A.F.

The London Gazette of July 27th 1943 has the following citation:

1054476 Aircraftman 1st Class Christian Gabriel Borrowdale Kapp, Royal Air Force.
In March, 1943, a Beaufighter crashed. Aircraftman Kapp, who was on leave, left his house and was the first to arrive at the scene. The aircraft was on fire and the pilot, who was injured, was trapped in the wreckage by his parachute harness. Despite the fire and consequent risk from exploding petrol tanks, Aircraftman Kapp heroically persisted until he succeeded in extricating the pilot, whose clothing had by then caught fire. He displayed courage and initiative of a high order.

Regards

Simon

[COL BRUGGY]

Hi Henk,

The F1180 for T5158 identifies the two pupils injured when P/O Jones was killed.

P/O M J Thomas, 127152
Sgt D R Cleasby 1352245

Regards
Ross

Hello,

P/O M J Thomas 127152, actually; 127152 P/O Henry James THOMAS RAFVR (later DFC, 235 Sqn. LG:11-2-1944).

Col.

[wwrsimon]

Hello

AC2 William J. GRIFFITHS - 1546629 - the Statutory Deaths Register on the Scotland's People website records that he died at 6.00 p.m. at Leanchoil Hospital, Forres, due to gangrenous appendicitis and peritonitis.

Cpl Patrick W. SAUNDERS - 1055494- the National Probate Calendar records that he died at Tower House Emergency Military Hospital, Salisbury. His death was reported in the Evening Despatch of March 13th 1943:

Birmingham R.A.F. driver killed
The inquest was opened and adjourned at Salisbury on Corpl. Patrick Westaway Saunders, R.A.F., single, aged 29, of 3, King Edward Road, Moseley, Birmingham, who died in Salisbury hospital from injuries he received when the vehicle he was driving was in collision with another.
Eleven occupants of the two vehicles were taken to hospital.

LAC Francis H.G. TOON - 1105194 - not on Scotland's People.

Regards

Simon

[jonheyworth]

TOTAL CORRECTION TO Guy Edward Saunders 12130, attached to Number 3093 SE, he was admitted seriously ill to the Tindal House hospital, Aylesbury on 22nd January where he died from a appendicital abscess

[jonheyworth]

The upgrade to Saunders 1055494 was missed

[jonheyworth]

John O'Brien 1639109 , attached to RAF Cosford , was admitted dangerously ill to RAF Hospital Cosford on 3 September, where he died of a coronary thrombosis

[jonheyworth]

John Thomas Costello 770599 | attached to RAF Northolt | died in hospital at Uxbridge of carcinoma